“There are a lot of people making a lot of uniformed, sensational claims about religion, so we thought it was about time we do a responsible show about what scholars say about the Bible,” he said. “I like taking difficult issues about the Bible and making them accessible to the public.”

It’s nice to see Tel Azekah mentioned and represented well:

Part of the documentary was shot in Tel Azekah in Israel, where Cargill and UI students were participating in an excavation of a site on the border of the Biblical kingdoms of Judah and the Philistines.

The article concludes with a comment on the importance of social media and reaching out to the public in modern scholarship.

He said participating in documentaries, along with other tactics such as blogging and using social media, are important for scholars who want to share their knowledge outside university walls.

“There’s always been a criticism of scholars that they sit in their ivory towers and only talk to each other but it never makes its way down to the public,” he said. “The University of Iowa brought me here in part to reinvigorate the public discussion on matters of faith. Documentaries are one way to do that.”